One of the 7 wonders of the world and patrimony of UNESCO, Ha long Bay is probably the most beautiful nature we have ever seen.
Formed millions of years ago, Ha long Bay used to be all mainland and limestones, when the ocean overtook and left these wonderful formations emerging from the water. We were impressed by the size of the bay, there were simply hundreds of small limestones emerging with different shapes and sizes. Families still live there today on so-called “floating villages”. Their main source of income is fishing, and apparently they only live there for 10-20 years when they move back to the mainland. The government is currently reducing the number of families who live in Ha long Bay as a measure to preserve the bay and maintain its beauty.
We originally booked a 2 day, 1 night tour with an agency in Hanoi. However, during a friendly talk with the guide shortly after boarding the boat, he insisted that we were on a 3 day tour. We had apparently been mistakenly put on the wrong boat -without them noticing-, and we did not complain… (sorry… : ) ). What a gift!
Cruising through the impressive limestone formations, we ate delicious seafood and other local Vietnamese dishes on a beautiful boat, where they had also upgraded us (this time on purpose) to a deluxe room with a balcony. In other words, it was definitely our lucky day. Throughout the cruise, we stopped to see wonderful caves within the limestones, kayaked and swam in the emerald green waters, and still had time to go biking and hiking on beautiful Cat Ba island, the largest island of Ha long Bay. We had also the fortune of meeting Michelle, a 76 year old French man who not only spoke perfect Spanish, Italian and English, but also had a great sense of humor. He definitely made our journey even more fun and proved to be the fittest person on board when he went swimming so far away from the boat that we almost couldn’t see him. Te echaremos de menos Michell! see you in Bordeaux!
And that was it, after 3 days to dream about, we headed back to Hanoi excited to begin a motorcycle tour through the Northwest. 600 km of curvy roads and off-roading on dirt paths was waiting for us.
the perfect crossroad 
Guys! I am soooo jealous!!! Ha Long Bay looks awesome!
OMFG!!! And the F needs to be there!! That’s just awsome… It’s like “The Beach” with DiCaprio!
Me muero de ganas de volver a veros!! Este viaje dará tema de conersación para más de un Gintonic
Siiii unos cuantos gin tónics seguro. Nosotros también tenemos mucho ganas de veros pareja! Gracias por ser tan fieles seguidores!
Ehiiiii, yo conduzco la moto….. esperat—meeeeeeeeee…….. Que maravillla …… Besosssssssss campeones….Felicidades por el Blog y las actualizaciones …. perfecto¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
Gracias papa!! Te hubiera encantado, hemos pensado muchísimo en ti especialmente durante este viaje en moto… Besos, te queremos mucho!
Dear world travelers, …. this does seems to beat everything you reported on so far … just so beautiful ! Sincere and somewhat jealous compliments to the photographer(s)
Hans-Peter & Cornelia
Thanks a lot for the compliments 😉 and a big thank you to the gift giver that made these great photos possible! xxx
Sempre que llegeixo qualsevol entrada del blog me n’adono que estic somrient perquè penso en vosaltres i en les experiències tan úniques que viviu!!! És sens dubte d’aquells viatges que et canvien la vida… 😉 Que sepáis que paso de enseñaros ninguna foto de Kokomo XD
Teacher Neus, Ms. Crespo! Que alegría leer un comentario tuyo! Gracias por seguirnos, te echamos mucho de menos! Esperamos que todo bien por Kokomo (una foto sería genial! Hace menos frío? Aquí tenemos más de 30 grados..) y con muchas ganas de que también nos cuentas de las aventuras por Indiana! Muchos besos
Martina and Josep – this looks absolutely incredible!!! It’s been so much fun following the blog and I hope you are both well and having the trip of a lifetime.. Thinking of you lots of love xoxoxo
Marg! Thanks for following us, it’s so nice to hear from you :-). Everything is truly wonderful! Hope you also enjoyed your vacation this winter in Germany and Greece. Looking forward to hearing about it! Lots of love from Bangkok
Gracias Carol!! Pues la verdad que en persona también era de película! Besos
speechless….les mando mil besos y siganla pasando en grande!!!!!!